


The Taste of Sugar

by Taitai83



Series: Music-Inspired Fics [5]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: I mean it is literally about sugar, Ladynoir July, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, accidental reveal, pre-reveal, this will give you cavities
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-23
Updated: 2019-07-26
Packaged: 2020-07-12 08:31:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19943212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Taitai83/pseuds/Taitai83
Summary: She tasted like sugar.That was the thought that went through his head the first time she kissed him. It was subtle, barely detectable but for his cat-like senses, a faint dusting of sweetness layered above the scent of her soap on her skin.Her hair, when he nuzzled in to it after, trying to remember how to breathe again, smelled like vanilla. And maybe something like butter. Like home.That first kiss gave him a taste. The second one created a hunger, and all the ones that followed in the days after that did nothing to sate it.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by The Tip of My Tongue by Kenny Chesney and Ed Sheeran

She tasted like sugar. 

That was the thought that went through his head the first time she kissed him. He had always imagined that their first kiss would be fiery and intense, her professional restraint snapping in a rush of passion, but it wasn’t like that at all. Her kiss was tentative, testing. Slow and soft. And oh-so-sweet, her hand resting lightly on his shoulder like she was still asking permission. And she tasted like sugar. The soft powdery kind, warm and delicate. It was subtle, barely detectable but for his cat-like senses, a faint dusting of sweetness layered above the scent of her soap on her skin.

Her hair, when he nuzzled in to it after, trying to remember how to breathe again, smelled like vanilla. And maybe something like butter. Like home.

That first kiss gave him a taste. The second one created a hunger, and all the ones that followed in the days after that did nothing to sate it.

Chat Noir was addicted. 

Her kisses were slow, but he was drowning fast. He was helpless against the taste and feel of her lips, her skin. He was completely at her mercy.

Luckily for him, she was Ladybug.

When Ladybug said yes to letting herself love him, she didn’t hold back. Her every touch, every look, every kiss spoke of just how much she adored him. Not that anyone could tell from a distance. There were no grand gestures or passionate embraces, just quiet smiles that reached her eyes differently than before and lit his heart on fire. Where others could see them, he restrained himself to his usual kisses on the back of her gloved hand. It devastated him that her suit didn’t taste of sugar the way her skin did. He supposed it must be due to her transformation.

Only in private then, could he luxuriate in it. Every kiss of her lips, her cheek, her nose, her hair, was an indulgence in his craving for her. His favorite was after a patrol or a fight, when there would be a hint of salt mingling with the sweetness of her skin. The essence lingered on his lips and at the tip of his tongue even after they parted.

He mentioned it to her once, about a month after their first kiss, when she asked him to tell her the best part of his day.

“Kissing you hello this evening, Bugaboo. I’m not generally allowed sweets, and you taste like confectioners’ sugar.”

Her eyes had widened in surprise, but she had quickly settled into a flirtatious smile.

“Silly Chaton, don’t you know that’s just my natural sweetness coming through?”

He noticed her soap more after that, but thankfully the taste of her skin remained the same.

Adrien found his hectic schedule and odd home life to be a mixed blessing as far as “secret superhero girlfriends” were concerned. On the one hand, no one questioned it when he said he was too busy to date anyone, and probably wouldn’t be allowed to anyway. Almost all attempts to set him up with someone were easily deflected.

On the other hand, though, no one thought twice about asking him to kiss a girl for a performance.

Nino was his best friend, and Nino needed a new film for his University admissions portfolio, and Nino had asked him to be his leading man, so he had enthusiastically agreed.

Alya was Nino’s girlfriend, and Alya was on some kind of quest, and Alya had asked Nino to re-write the script to include a kiss between the leading man and leading lady, so he had reluctantly complied.

Adrien was freaking out. It’s not that he had any particular objection to kissing Marinette. In fact, she was almost the ONLY girl in the class that wouldn’t have caused him to cringe a bit. But he had a _girlfriend_ , and he didn’t want to kiss _anyone_ except for his lady, and he _really_ didn’t want to either have to keep it from her or awkwardly explain why he had had to kiss someone else.

Luckily for him, she was Marinette.

And Marinette didn’t seem to be any keener on a kissing scene than he was. But rather than stew in a panic like him, she had come up with a solution.

“Nino, this just doesn’t make any sense. Grabbing Lisle and kissing her is completely out of character for Anton. He’s supposed to be suave and charming, not pushy and aggressive.”

Nino stared at the script, pretending to consider her comments while shooting sideways glances at Alya.

“I agree with Marinette,” Adrien added quickly, trying to drive the point a little further.

“I guuueesss… but we want to show that he admires and loves her and wants them to be more, bro. How do we do that without a kiss?”

“How about a kiss on the hand, like Chat Noir is always giving to Ladybug? I think that’s the perfect level of gallantry and affection while still being gentlemanly,” Marinette replied, a small smile and soft eyes giving away her true feelings on the romantic gestures.

Adrien was absolutely delighted with her take on his mannerisms as Chat, as well as with the slight blush that graced her cheeks as she said it. He grinned in response.

“I think that sounds puuuurrfect!”

A chorus of groans and some swats on the arm followed, but it was agreed upon and the change was made, to the relief of everyone except Alya.

Adrien went through the rest of the rehearsal with a lighter heart, reciting the lines he remembered and reading the ones he didn’t. The lines leading up to the kiss scene were among those for which he had to cheat, as he had been so focused on his fretting that he had neglected to memorize them.

So, he was holding his papers and not looking at his classmate as he read his character’s declaration of admiration and respect, trying to convey the Chat Noir confidence and charm that Marinette had indicated would be appropriate. As he reached the end of the monologue, he dropped the script with a flourish, and, with a debonair smile, seized her hand in both of his and planted a firm kiss on the back of it.

And then he froze.

His nose was brushing her wrist, and she smelled like soap and vanilla and butter. But, far more importantly, his lips were pressed against the skin of her hand. And she tasted like sugar.


	2. Chapter 2

Adrien held Marinette’s hand to his lips for several moments longer than what was already awkward, but he couldn’t manage to get his muscles to work properly enough to pull away.

“Um, Adrien? Can I have my hand back now?”

“S-sorry!”

He finally released her, and she stepped back, looking at him quizzically.

“Are you ok?”

“Bro, what the heck was that?”

“S-sorry, I just…”

He floundered for a way to explain his odd behavior. 

“I just… w-what perfume do you wear, Marinette? It seems… familiar.”

“Uh, I don’t wear perfume. Most of them give me a headache.”

“O-oh. Well you must just smell nice. Like croissants. Or something.”

He couldn’t help but notice that everyone was giving him very odd looks, and frankly, he couldn’t blame them. He vaguely wondered what color his face was.

“Must just be my natural sweetness coming through,” she said as she shot him an exaggerated wink and batted her eyes playfully in a blatant attempt to laugh off this very awkward situation.

Her words echoed in his ears.

This was impossible. There was no way he was this lucky. It couldn’t be possible.

Could it be possible? 

He couldn’t quite let himself believe it. He had kissed her hand. Her hand smelled of butter and tasted of sugar. But he had never kissed Ladybug’s bare hand before, he couldn’t know for sure if it was the same. 

Adrien vaguely became aware that he was staring at her, so he forced himself to laugh at her comment (even if it was several moments later than was appropriate) and turn away.

“Ok guys,” Nino pulled them all back together. “That was pretty good! Marinette, I need you to try for a less love-sick expression during the monologue, Lisle loves Anton but she’s a badass too. Adrien, work on your lines, dude, I wanna do it without scripts next time. And I know you’re not allowed treats, bro, but if you’re gonna be huffing Marinette’s arm then maybe you should eat a cookie before you get here.” 

Adrien, his attention almost entirely on Marinette even if he wasn’t looking directly at her, noticed her eyebrows pinch briefly at Nino’s comments. He couldn’t think why, but it wasn’t his most pressing concern at the moment.

No, currently his mind was primarily occupied with trying to figure out if it would be possible to kiss Marinette’s cheek or smell her hair without being totally creepy about it. They were friends, sure, but they didn’t have a touchy-feely kind of relationship. It would be weird for him to hug her, and right now he did not need to make things more awkward.

Suddenly recognizing that he had very limited control over his current fixation with Marinette Dupain-Cheng, he quickly excused himself and high-tailed it out of there. He would have to try and figure something else out.

Adrien was massively conflicted. He knew that Ladybug wouldn’t want him trying to figure out her identity, but he was going absolutely insane wondering about how it was that Marinette’s skin smelled and tasted just like hers. She lived in a bakery, of course, but he didn’t know much about the details of her private life. Despite feeling a little guilty about it, he decided his best choice would be to learn more about Marinette. Who was his friend. It wasn’t odd or intrusive for him to want to learn more about his friend. Right?

Yeah, sure, let’s go with that.

Over the next few days he tried to nonchalantly get information out of Nino. Apparently Alya was pretty sure Marinette was seeing someone, but no one hadn’t met him. That struck Adrien as highly suspicious.

“Why do you care all of a sudden, dude?” 

Ok so maybe he wasn’t good at nonchalant.

“I’ve just really enjoyed hanging out with her for the film, and I realized I don’t know much about her life outside of you guys.”

Nino gave him a sly grin.

“Suuuure. And you’re just curious, right?”

“Shut up man, why can’t I ever talk to a girl without it being remarked upon?”

“Ok that’s fair, I’m sorry.” Nino did look sincerely abashed.

“It’s fine. At least you won’t publish it,” he said as he rolled his eyes. “Besides, if she’s seeing someone it shouldn’t even be a question.” 

“Well, we’re not actually sure. Alya just thinks so because her behavior’s been so different the past few months. But Marinette hasn’t actually said anything.”

That also struck Adrien as highly suspicious. But wait.

“What do you mean her behavior has been different?”

“Well for one thing, she can talk to YOU without a problem now. I mean, at our last rehearsal she was actually teasing you. Guarantee you the Marinette from 6 months ago would never have been able to pull that off.”

“What? Why not? Why couldn’t she talk to me before?”

“Are you serious, dude?” Nino gave him the flattest look he’d ever seen.

“Uhhh…” Adrien wracked his brain trying to come up with what was apparently an obvious answer, and failed. But he _needed_ the answer.

“Yes, I’m serious. I need you to explain human interaction to me like the trained monkey I apparently am.”

Nino wrapped his arm around his head and rubbed his knuckles to his scalp.

“Don’t be so hard on yourself, dude! Your grasp of human language FAR exceeds all the standard trained monkeys!”

“Gettoffame!” Adrien laughed. “But seriously, why couldn’t she talk to me?”

“Dude, she had the most massive crush on you. It tapered off a while back, but I think the short-circuit in her brain was hardwired or something, because even then she turned into a spaz around you. It’s seriously only been in the last few months that she’s been able to act like a normal human being when you’re in the room.”

Marinette had had a crush on him. HAD. Past tense. It was very, very important that Adrien learn exactly WHEN Marinette had apparently gotten over this crush. 

“Do you know what caused the change?”

“Well, that’s why Alya suspects she’s seeing someone. I first noticed it when the Mecha movie came out, because she asked us if we wanted to go and it hit me that she asked you to a movie without freaking out. But Alya said it had really started a couple weeks before that.”

The Mecha movie. That was right after he and Ladybug had started their secret relationship, because he remembered feeling sad that he couldn’t take his _girlfriend_ on a proper date to the movies. 

All the pieces were lining up. One little coincidence after another.

And yet.

And yet he just couldn’t let himself really believe it. He didn’t think he’d be able to take it if he was wrong.


	3. Chapter 3

The following day, as Chat waited for Ladybug at their usual “every 3rd Wednesday that isn’t an odd number” rooftop (hey, Ladybug was worried about someone tracking them and he would take meetups however he could get them, thank you), he studied her as she approached. She was graceful and confident, and while he knew that Marinette could be a bit of a klutz, he didn’t feel like it really proved anything. After all, he acted pretty differently under the protection of the mask. There was no reason to be self-conscious when no one knew who you were.

But would that change? He had to talk to her about this. He had spent the whole night agonizing about strategies for how to go about it. Drop hints about his identity and see if she figured it out? Ask her questions about her own life and see if _he_ figured it out? Mention casual encounters with Marinette and see if she reacted?

He rejected them all. He was not smooth enough to pull off subterfuge, and the idea of manipulating her made him uneasy. Plus, she’d be pissed as hell when she inevitably figured him out. Which she would, because she was clever and observant and could read him like a book.

No, as awkward as it was, he had concluded that being straightforward was really his only hope.

She dropped lightly to the roof and immediately slid into his lap, burying her fingers in his hair as she claimed his mouth with hers. Her sweet lips overrode all conscious thought, and for a few blissful moments all he was aware of was the pleasant weight of her body against him, the smell of vanilla, and the pressure of her tongue against his lower lip. He shuddered in delight.

She pulled back to give him an adoring smile, gently running her thumb along his mouth and cheek.

“I’ve missed you, kitty,” she murmured softly. “How was the end of your week?”

Chat felt his heart rate pick up, glancing up into her guileless blue eyes, briefly wondering how this was all going to go.

“Uh… well? It was… kind of interesting.”

“Oh? Do tell?”

“Well that’s kind of the thing, there’s something I need to talk to you about.”

Her eyes shifted from light curiosity to mild concern.

“You ok, kitty?”

“I… yes, M’Lady, I’m fine, I don’t mean to alarm you, it’s just… I’m a bit nervous about it.”

She shifted so she could lace her fingers through his and squeezed his hand in assurance.

“Probably best to just spit it out, Chaton. Trying to ease into hard conversations just makes them confusing. Take it from someone who knows.” She gave him a small wry smile.

He took a deep, steadying breath, wrapped an arm around her waist for support, and then,

“I think I know your identity.”

He was very glad that she was sitting in his arms on his lap because he was fairly certain she would have fallen over as she pushed back in alarm. Her blue eyes were wide with shock as she searched his face for some kind of deceit.

“Wh-WHAT?! What do you mean?!”

“I didn’t mean to!" 

He tightened his hold on her waist, desperate to explain himself before she ran away, furious, never wanting to see him again.

“I swear! It was an accident! I wasn’t trying to find out! I’m not even sure I’m right!”

Her hands on his shoulders settled him. Looking up at her, he could see that she was still alarmed, concerned, worried, but not angry. To his enormous relief, she made no move to leave his embrace, though she kept enough space to be able to see his face clearly.

“Chat… how…? Who….?” She sighed and scrubbed her own face with her hands. “Ok, let’s start with this and see where we need to go from here. Who is it that you think I am?”

He swallowed thickly. “Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

He knew at once that he was right. Her eyes widened further and she inhaled sharply. Then she let her shoulders slump in grim acceptance and groaned into her hands. His concern for her worry took a backseat to the jubilation in his heart.

It was HER! His Lady was his friend! The beautiful girl who was kind to everyone and fierce in defending her beliefs was… exactly the same person outside the mask. Well now he just felt like an idiot, but he wasn’t going to let that get him down, not now that he knew exactly who his heart belonged to.

He pulled her back into him, inhaling deeply in her hair and letting it out in a shuddering breath that he hoped could tell her how happy he was. She let her head rest on his shoulder as he pressed soft kisses into her hair and on her cheek, relishing in the sweetness that lingered on his lips.

“You don’t seem to mind, knowing it’s me,” she teased gently as his administrations continued.

“My Lady, you have no earthly idea how happy I am right now,” he sighed into her neck, causing her to laugh and flinch as his breath tickled her.

“Well that’s something at least.”

He frowned a bit at her self-deprecating tone, but before he could ask, she said,

“So how did you figure it out? How did you know it was me?”

“Uhh, well, like I said, I wasn’t positive, but…”

She leveled him a flat look and he sighed. He just hoped that she could learn to like Adrien again.

“I… I kissed you. Or rather, civilian-me kissed Marinette. And you smelled and tasted… like you.”

“You… kissed me?” She appeared to be very confused.

“Your hand!” he hastened to clarify. “I kissed your hand and it tasted like sugar. But then I wasn’t sure because your suit doesn’t taste the way your skin does so I wasn’t sure that your hand WOULD taste like sugar, but it was exactly the same so it seemed too much of a coincidence, but I don’t have that kind of luck so I thought I had to be wrong, and I-“

She clapped her hand over his mouth, her brow furrowed as she studied him. 

“You kissed my hand?” she asked again. He nodded.

She continued to frown at him, and he could almost see the pieces fitting together in her head. Then her eyes widened.

“Adrien?” she whispered.

He nodded again, more slowly, her hand still pressed against his mouth. He watched her reaction helplessly, desperately hoping that she would still accept him, waiting for her mercy.

Her eyes flashed in alarm, and his heart faltered in his chest as her face betrayed embarrassment, grief, frustration. But then came acceptance, and then humor. And when her blue eyes met his again, they were as soft with affection as they’d been when she’d described his hand-kissing as ‘gallant’. She removed her hand from his mouth and cupped his cheek instead.

“Well, we’re a couple of idiots, aren’t we?” she sighed, stroking his cheek with her thumb.

The affectionate gesture left him breathless. She was still here. She was still his. He knew who she was, and she knew who he was, and they still belonged to each other.

He leaned up and kissed her. Hard. One arm pulling her body against his and the other holding the back of her head so that he could angle his head to deepen the kiss, the sweet taste of her lips driving him crazy. Their relationship as Ladybug and Chat Noir had been built on soft touches and slow kisses, but now they were that AND Adrien and Marinette, and the fire in his chest yearned for more. There was no more ‘professional restraint’, no more timid hesitancy. His breath came in gasping bursts against her lips, his emotions bubbling up from his stomach as he leaned into her. She was his and he was hers and he was desperate for her.

She responded in kind, parting her lips under the pressure of his mouth, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing herself against him. He could feel the fervor in her too. As warm and wonderful as their sweet relationship had been, this was more. This was ALL of them. All of _both_ of them. This was the fire and passion that he had imagined, only it was better than he had imagined because it was REAL. 

He thought he could live off of this, the smell and taste and weight of her against him. But long before he was ready to relinquish the kiss, he felt her fingers in his hair, gently tugging his head back. His glassy vision slowly focused on her bruised lips, before flickering up to her bluebell eyes, the traces of fire in them beginning to recede. To his delight, he saw that her breathing was coming in erratic, staccato gasps as well, but when he leaned in to kiss her again, she held him back. 

“Kitty,” she whispered, and fuck if the rawness of her voice didn’t break his heart and make him whole all at the same time.

“My Lady,” he replied, the corners of his mouth fighting to creep up into a grin.

She cupped his face with her hands and locked her eyes on his.

“I love you,” she said.

Chat’s heart stopped, then stuttered into a rapid beat to make up for lost time. She… she…

“No,” he whispered, gripping her tightly. 

Her eyes flickered with confusion.

“What do you mea- ACK!!” she yelped as, quick as a flash, he flipped them over to pin her to the roof below him, his arms cradling her head and body gently as he did so.

“Chat!” She shoved at his shoulder. “What do you mean ‘NO’?”

“No, it’s not fair,” he replied, stroking her cheek with the back of his claws. “I’ve been in love with you since we were 14 and you go and steal the honor saying it first.” 

Her eyes softened and she smiled gently.

“It’s totally fair. I’ve been in love with YOU since we were 14, I just didn’t know it was… you.”

“No way, you got over Adrien, Nino told me,” he countered as he leaned down to kiss her lips again. “Whereas _**I**_ have stayed true to you since the beginning. It should have been me.” 

She laughed against his mouth. “I got over you when I fell for YOU, you ridiculous cat! And if you’re going to argue identity shenanigans, I’ll point out that you were NEVER in love with Marinette, whereas **_I_ **loved both Adrien AND Chat.”

His heart stuttered again hearing her say she loved him. She LOVED him!

“Oh Bugaboo, I think that the last 15 minutes have proven how much our whole identities factor into this relationship.”

She flushed under his gaze, but smiled at him, her eyes sparking again. 

“You’re allowed to say it back, you know, even if you didn’t say it first.”

He blinked, then realized she was right. Shaking his head at his own stupidity, he grinned down at her.

“Marinette, My Lady, I love you more than words can express.”

Her eyes darkened and the spark in them grew into a flame.

“Guess you’ll have to show me instead, then,” she whispered, and pulled him down against her as she pressed her lips to his in another fiery kiss. 


End file.
